HANGZHOU, China, May 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The 15th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival was held in Hangzhou from April 30 to May 5. The city, dedicated to creating "an international capital of cartoon & animation", has entered a city-wide carnival mode for cartoon & animation. Subway stations, special subway trains, buses running around the West Lake, departure lounges have all placed their focus on the theme of cartoon & animation. During this period, a total of 1.436 million people has participated in various activities at the festival.

In addition to the record high number of participants, the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival this year has also set up new records in terms of the number of participating countries and regions, the scale of the exhibitions, trading amount, and benefits from the festival.

According to incomplete statistics, the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival this year has attracted a total of 2,645 Chinese and foreign companies, 5,778 merchants, exhibitors, and professionals from 86 countries and regions to participate in the exhibitions and conferences; actual deals closed, contracts signed, and intended cooperation projects amounted to 13.984 billion yuan; consumptions during the festival -- 2.52 billion yuan; totaling 16.504 billion yuan.

World famous companies and brands at the festival presented a trend of accelerated aggregation with an significantly increased level of internationalization, fully confirming and demonstrating the international influence of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

193 companies from 20 countries and regions around the world set up booths at the scene, including the US Disney's headquarters that took part in the exhibition for the first time, realizing a breakthrough in the history of the festival.

The festival this year also attracted Sony Interactive Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment from US, Bandai, Japan's largest toy company, and Webtoon, the largest comics platform in South Korea.

The Japanese group led by Manga Contents Promote Organization (Japan) and the Brazilian group led by the Brazilian Animation Alliance showed up one after another, while the area for exhibitions from overseas have expanded to 20%. 114 brands from abroad were on display and on sale, accounting for 32%, including Marvel, Kamen Rider, One Piece, Peppa Pig, Kumamon, and other internationally renowned brands.

With numerous experts taking part, the Cartoon & Animation Summit Forum was extraordinarily splendid. World top experts and creators of popular works of the year all came to the scene, giving speeches and sharing their experiences, including Pam Marsden, the producer of one of the best animated feature films of the Academy Awards and the head of production for Sony Pictures Animation; Joe D'Ambrosia, Senior Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior, US; Ariele Podreider Lenzi, the supervisor of biological roles for "Venom"; Christian, the French comic master and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters; Date Hayato, the director of the Japanese animation "Naruto"; Marie-Claire Quiquemelle, the French Sinologist and expert in the Chinese animation history; Tsai Chi-Chung, the famous cartoonist from Taiwan, and so on.

The reason that the international animation industry has been attracted to focus on Mainland China is the huge development opportunities in Mainland China's market. According to the China Animated Feature Film Development report (2018) released at this Cartoon & Animation Festival, a total of 61 animated feature films went on the mainstream theater chains and cinemas across Chinese cities, grossing more than 4.1 billion yuan, in which 27 were imported, grossing 2.483 billion yuan.

Tencent Video, Japan's Manga Contents Promote Organization and other domestic and foreign organizations held special launch events and promotions at the Cartoon & Animation Festival. "More and more Chinese and foreign companies have chosen the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival as the main platform for display, promotion and launch, which fully reflects the market's recognition for the value of the Cartoon & Animation Festival as a platform hosted by Hangzhou," said an official in charge with the organizer of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival.

Source: The Organizing Committee of the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival